Goodbye Asian Life

Last night we were blessed by all our friends and co-workers coming together to share memories and encouraging words with us. It was fun to see people, new and old, from our time here. A few girls we worked with when we first arrived in 1999 even made it! It was amazing to hear people get up and say, "I've known you for 8 . . . 10 . . . 12 years." There's a lot of history with these people.

And there's a lot of history in Asia. As my final post for My Asian Life before I change my blog, I thought I'd throw out some of the memories that come to mind:

dormitory life for the first three months
the carpet in our first place that was supposed to be tan, but was gray when it came. We were told, "This is what we had at the factory."
Hearing people talk about our "incredibly white" child in stereo whenever we took him outside
The AC unit being installed outside our 20th floor window - they wrapped a rope around the waist of the guy leaning out and gave Erik the end to hold
Favorite restaurants and play areas, and the days we would show up to them and find them a pile of rubble, "Sorry kids, Fundazzle's gone."
Struggling in language class
Riding on the back of Erik's bike side saddle like the locals
Frequently changing the purpose of rooms in our house, "Ok, today I want to make our room Ethan's room and make the office our bedroom."
Paying someone 2 mao to watch my bike at the grocery store
Sweet times with Chinese friends 
Dan Higgins licking off Ethan's sucker that fell in a mud puddle
Holidays with all our co-workers
Going to IKEA as a retreat from the culture (back when no one went there)
Seeing coal dust on the inside of our window sill in the winter
Our last year the first time when an American family lived next door and our children treated them as one apartment, running back and forth

Daily swims at our apartment complex in Singapore
BBQs at the end of the courtyard
Runs in the morning that got me so sweaty I could wring out my shirt
Wet markets
The Singapore Zoo
Waiting out sudden thunderstorms
31A Merryn Road, where we had Bible study and did life with our small group
Thursday morning women's time at IBC
Our makeshift homeschool co-op Pirate class
Hours and hours with my friend Martha while we watched our kids do gymnastics and all kinds of other activities
Catching the bus, the MRT - Singapore's amazing public transport systems
Mustafa Centre!
The Jurong Water Park - one of the few places in Singapore that was inexpensive!
Driving on the other side of the road
Hanging with the Wilsons
the great library system

Running along the canal
The giant urn in our living room that we managed to wrestle outside
Not seeing the kids all day because they were out playing in the complex
Walking next door to the Higgins when the kids were sleeping
Road trips with the Fords
The hardest goodbye ever - seeing the Higgins and the Fords leave in the same month
Renovating our TTY place
co-op kids every Thursday
Eating street food again
Having a jiaozi guy and an egg guy and a fruit lady
Capture the Flag every day for months
Driving the back roads of China
Hearing my kids speak Chinese and seeing our floor littered with character flash cards
Finding Scout
Eating with friends on our porch

Asia has been good to us, and though we are leaving our Asian life, I know that we are forever changed because of our time here.

I'll be changing my blog URL soon. Hopefully my posts will all transfer over and you will be redirected to the new one. Thanks for reading! 

Guanxi

There's a concept in Chinese language and culture that has no clear translation in English. It's the term "guanxi." It roughly means, "relationship" or "connection" but in reality it is much more.

Here, it's important to have guanxi with others. You can build guanxi, get guanxi, lose guanxi, use guanxi. When you have guanxi with someone, they are more likely to do things for you. It's kind of like building rapport with people that you can draw on later.

My husband is the Guanxi King. Really, it's like his superpower. Close to a Jedi mind trick, but not quite. Take a guy who is naturally easy going, friendly, and deferential, but who also values getting other people to do the little things he'd rather not do, and you have a guy who is unstoppable in this country. People who have just met him suddenly like him and are willing to do anything for him. It's amazing to watch. Those inflexible rules we so often encounter here are bent in the presence of the Guanxi King.

I'm not sure how this guanxi power will translate in America. We'll see. All I know is that it's been helpful here.

Just a Little Extra Money

We're finding out (as if we didn't already know) that in China, money will get you everywhere.

Last Thursday, it got Erik a fast pass through the exit health exam for Scout. For the base fee, he would have had to go back two more times and do all the paperwork himself. For 100Y extra, he only had to go back once and do the paperwork. For 250Y, he only had to go once, they did the paperwork, he got a guide to take him to all the checkpoints (including that cotton pickin' microchip) and they sent the results to us by messenger the next day. Yes, I'll take option 3 for 250Y please Alex. Best 250Y we've ever spent! So that was an unexpectedly easy moment.

This morning, I received the invoice from the cargo company that is handling Scout's excessively early (7:30 am for a 4:25 pm flight??) departure from China. In the place of "airline fee" I saw the number 11,521Y, putting our grand total over 15,000Y once he threw in his cargo processing fee. $2,000+ to ship our dog back to the States? Dude, she's not made of gold!

I've held up pretty well through all of this transition, but this pushed me over the edge because I was sure that all manner of reasoning would not get that fee back down to what it should be. Basically, they were calculating her weight based on the size of the enormous crate we had to buy for her according to airline regulations and decided together they would weigh 101 pounds. Yeah, they weigh 30 pounds. I was prepared for a fight, but when I contested the fee, I got a prompt email that said, "Ok, you can pay 4,937Y."

I'm sorry, where am I again? Is this China? This never happens! Oh wait, it is China because then we saw he added 1,000Y onto HIS fee because he had to, and we quote, "have a profit." Friends, I believe what we have here is a case of someone thinking the "rich" foreigners will never look at the invoice, so why not ask a little extra? But when it turns out that said foreigner who calls (Erik, not me - I hate phone calls) has stellar Chinese and has to pay this fee himself (instead of his company paying), he finds another way to make a little money.

So either we offer it up front or they take it from us. Either way, money moves the world around here.

Resistance is futile

One of my greatest cultural frustrations in Asia is my American need to know the whys behind a rule. Really, I'm a rule follower, but I'd really like to know the reasons behind the rule. If I know them, I'll (generally) follow.

But Asia does not expect to be questioned, and therefore the question "Why?" is rarely answered with satisfaction. Whenever I come up against seemingly illogical requirements, I feel like the people must feel in Star Trek who are approached by the Borg, "We are Borg Asia. Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile." Do not question. Just obey. Regardless of the ridiculousness of the rule.

Yet, futile though it is, I cannot help but still ask, "Why?" And Asia answers, "It's the rule." But I still ask. Sigh.

So when I was told that our dog must be microchipped days before leaving China, even though the U.S. does not require microchipping, I couldn't resist asking the cargo people, "Why?"

I had a vain hope that, because Jade from Panda cargo has been exceedingly responsive and helpful (unlike Grace from United who sounds less and less happy each time I call, and I really don't blame her), I thought she might give me a reason. Or better yet, say, "You're right. That's silly. You don't have to do it."

But no. She told me, "China requires it." But why, Jade, WHY? Do you understand what I mean when I ask why? Tell me the method behind your madness.

Oh Gina. Resistance is futile.

Growing Up in China, and I Don't Mean My Kids

"Can you summarize your China experience in one sentence?" This was the question posed to me by one of three students from a local university. I'll get to my response in a minute, but let me give you some context. This was an interview set up by an old Chinese friend of mine who is their English teacher. Students from their university are compiling a book of foreigners' experiences with Chinese language and culture. I was also asked to write a short excerpt for it. They showed up this morning a week earlier than I was expecting (my fault, not theirs) so they got to see what foreigners look like when they have gone for a long walk on a hot morning but not had time to shower change into anything other than the equivalent of pajamas. Lucky kids!

We talked for about an hour and they asked me about things like my most embarrassing language moment (I don't really have one), homeschooling my kids as opposed to putting them in local schools (the whole concept seemed to baffle them) and the best ways to learn language. They also shyly asked me for advice on living in America. It was fun to answer their questions, although I found myself having to pause occasionally and swallow hard before I could answer because it was digging up so many memories for me. I thought it best not to weep in front of three strangers who would probably be freaked out and feel responsible, "Teacher, we made her cry! What did we do wrong? Are all Americans this emotional?"

But this question about summarizing my China experience in one sentence stumped me for a minute. I finally was able to answer, "I know this might sound strange, but I have grown up in China." They indeed looked puzzled, so I continued, "When I came to China, I was 26. In China I learned how to be a mom, how to be an adult. China has been the background for me to learn to be a mature person (at least as mature as I am at this point!). It has forever influenced who I am."

They said this was the best answer anyone had given to this question. :)

Cultural ponderings

Chinese culture has been swirling in my mind lately, and not necessarily in a good way. More of a "13 years and I still don't get it" kind of way. Last week you might have seen the graphic pictures of a woman who was forced to have an abortion here. What you might not have heard is the backlash from the local government against her family, who have had to go into hiding, because they posted that. I wonder at the injustice of it.

Closer to home, some friends of ours with three small children recently had an incident at a local fast food place. Their youngest was being bullied by a local boy (who was terrorizing all the kids in the play area). Since no parent was stepping in to stop the abuse, our friend finally pulled the boy aside and told him it was inappropriate. In flew the mother of the child, screaming that her son would be psychologically traumatized from the reprimand. They tried to leave, but the woman grabbed their daughter and refused to let go until the police came. Our friend spent 7 hours at the police station where, although the local police sided with him, he was finally forced to pay 1,000Y to the family so their son could have psychological testing. What? Insanity.

So this morning I sat with my oldest Chinese friend here and we discussed these things. She said, "We Chinese parents, in that situation, would just pull our child out of the play area because we know that other children are being raised to be the aggressors. It's really hard to find kids for my son to play with because they are all this way. They are aggressive children being raised by aggressive parents."

She is a professor at a local university, and this summer she will be hosting a group of 30 students checking into graduate schools in California. Their university actually makes money off these trips by charging the parents over $5,000 per student. Who in China can afford this we wonder? Apparently at least 30 sets of parents! She said most of the students don't care about seeing most of the universities - they'd rather shop! More of mom and dad's hard earned money out the window.

She sees her job as an English teacher slowly becoming more obsolete. The students are coming to university with such excellent English she is hardly needed. Only one semester of English is compulsory. So what could she do instead?

She's actually thinking of helping to develop the homeschool movement here in China. She would love to homeschool her son, but she's afraid that without a formal structure that affirms homeschooling, he might not be able to attend university here. She would love for China to give formal permission for parents to homeschool, but she wonders if it would be a license for rural people to keep their kids at home in order to use them for labor. It's exciting to see her wrestle with these issues, and I hope for her sake that homeschooling becomes a possibility.

Why? Well, because she described her son's school to me, and it once again made me thank God that I never chose to put my kids in local schools (I know there are some great schools out there, but this is an example of a pretty typical school). Her son is in a class of 40 first graders. His is one of nine 1st grade classes in the school. They have exams next weeks. They'll take a practice exam, be given results, then given an opportunity to take essentially the same test again. There is competition between the nine classes for the highest scores, and between their school and others. Sound at all familiar?

She was called in after school recently to talk to her son's teacher, or rather, to be lectured by her son's teacher. For five minutes, in front of other parents whose children have been performing sub par, she was reprimanded about the serious situation with her son's math abilities. She said, "To this day, I don't know what it is he's doing wrong. Maybe writing sloppy?" but she just laughed it off.

All this just goes to show me that you're never done learning about a culture. I find it all fascinating and a little baffling.

Vacation?!?

A woman and her young son joined me in the elevator this morning around 7:30 as I headed out for a run. She asked about my "little friends" by which I assumed she meant my children. It was one of those "do I tell her we homeschool and have to face the inevitable questions and confusion?" Then I remembered that technically it's summer, so I said, "They've on vacation."

"Vacation?!? So early?!?"

"Uh . . . America has a different schedule than China . . . " I replied sheepishly.

Her contempt was palpable as she exited the elevator to escort her son to school where obviously he will grow to be more intelligent than these feral American street urchins.

I should have gone with "homeschool."

Chinese Mind Tricks

There's one aspect of Chinese culture that continues to amuse and, at times, frustrate me. It's what I like to call the Chinese Mind Trick. It happens when you ask someone for something, but rather than provide it, they try to convince you that you don't want it. It looks something like this:

Me: Do you have this dress in a smaller size?
Vendor: This is a good size for you.
Me: No, it's too big. Do you have a smaller size?
Vendor: A smaller size wouldn't look good. You should get this one.

or this:

Erik to vet: Can you tell us where we can get our dog a haircut?
Vet: This kind of dog shouldn't get its hair cut.

It's really hard to know how to respond to these interactions. Usually we get into them because people are unable to provide the information or products we want, but don't want to admit it because they would lose face. I understand that, but it would be so refreshing if someone would just say, "no" or "I don't know" in response to our questions.

It's a good thing I'm not looking for any droids, cause I think I know the answer I would get.

Off the Beaten Path

I have always been a play by the rules, inside the box, compliant kind of girl. It's served me well (and probably those trying to lead me) for the most part. People generally like those kind of people. At least they like that they aren't doing things that others don't like.

But this morning at breakfast with friends, I was reflecting on the fact that God seems to keep leading me off the beaten paths. Asia for 13 years? Homeschool? These aren't the norm. I know this will become more apparent as we move back to the States and out of the realms where others are doing the same oddball things. 

On top of my seemingly wacky life choices, I feel like I am moving into a place where many of the values and lessons I have learned are counter-cultural, both at work and in life. I'm starting to see that one of the great challenges for me is not only to stand firm in these things I have come to embrace, but to recognize the times when God is calling me to share them with others, to stir things up. I am not a stirrer. I am a "gently slip into the shallow end and hope no one notices" kind of person.

But a few weeks ago, during our bi-weekly Dan Allender mind meld, he talked about passions and burdens. Passions are those things you love, the places where you want to say "yes," where you are even brought to tears because you are so moved by an issue. Burdens are the other side of the coin, the things you hate, the things that make you say, "not on my watch," the places where your blood boils.

This whole topic came to me this morning because my friend was sharing about some things at work that are disappointing to her, things that touch on my passions and burdens. I felt my heart caught up in the issues, that sense of wanting to pound my fists on the table and say, "Something must be done!" and then, "And I want to be part of it!"

Then I thought, "Wait. Did I just think that? But I don't do that kind of thing! And I don't like being that person!" But the passions and burdens in my heart are from God, and I know that I must honor them, even if I get a few sideways glances or create some discord. I've been wandering so far off the beaten path in the last 13 years, why try to find my way back now?

Excited about America

In the 13 years we've lived in Asia, we've never been back in the States for more than 3 months at a time, and even then, we weren't really living there. I've started thinking about what it will be like to actually live in the States again and what I'm looking forward to on a completely surface level. Yes, this is going to be a shallow post, but I think of these things once in awhile and they get me excited to live in the States. It may or may not be a coping mechanism to avoid the real pain of leaving. :)

1. Not having to shop like a ninja. Usually I'm trying to purchase clothes for my family once every 2 years or so, within about 2 months time at the most. I've been at the mercy of whatever happens to be in the stores. I'm in and out and whatever I've got is what we wear until the next trip. I'll be able to buy clothes when we need them, or wait till they're on sale, or until there's something I really like!

2. American sized things. Admittedly, at first being back in the States I feel like I'm in Gulliver's Travels, the part where he's with the giants. Everything is oversized compared to Asia. But then I get used to warehouse sized stores and washing machines I can fit whole people into, and they are glorious.

3. High quality paper products. I'm kind of a paper products snob. To me, if it's going to rub any part of my body, or be used to absorb any amount of liquid, it needs to be thick and soft. Asia makes paper products you can see through and feel a little like sawdust. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm dreaming of using rolls of paper towels as pillows.

4. Getting back all the time I waste staring at products in stores, trying to discern if they are what I want or not because I can only read 2/3 of the characters, if that. On the other hand, for a period of time I know this time will be spent staring at the overwhelming number of choices that will present themselves. People, I just want toothpaste and deodorant and bread. I don't need 50 choices for each of these. But at least I'll be able to read my choices!

5. The process of cooking and baking not requiring the use of excessive amounts of time and money. There's nothing like the feeling of spending $5 on a brownie mix that you had to drive across town to purchase being ruined because you accidentally left your Easy Bake style oven on broil. Again. Or thinking you have the ingredients to make that recipe you saw on Pinterest, and having to change direction mid-course because to get that one ingredient you don't have would require a one hour round trip drive. I've almost cried Gollum-style, "My Precious!" over granola bars I baked too long as I think about the wheat germ, flax seed, raisins, and chocolate chips, that went into them. Seriously, they're hard to find and expensive. But not in America!

Ok, I know that I may be idealizing America right now. I know when I get there I'll lament many things I miss about Asia. But everywhere has pros and cons, and you just have to let yourself get excited about them once in awhile.

Not the 99%

We've always been a little confused at the number of people who get off on the 11th floor of our building (it's 12 stories - we're on the top). We just figured the people living in those two apartments had a lot of friends.

Yesterday Erik learned the truth - they all live there. 10 families, 5 on each side. We realized that meant that 5 families were sharing the equivalent of the 1st floor of our apartment - probably about 1500 sq ft (yes, we have a huge apartment). It's hard to even comprehend how they share 3 bedrooms (one nested inside another), 2 bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room. It's possible they have renovated it differently than ours, but the fact is that doesn't leave much space for anyone. I mean this includes kids too. You have to really like the other people in the house.

This morning I took the dog for a walk down a country road nearby where there are still row houses - long, one story brick buildings which I doubt have running water or heat (they do have satellite though). I was further reminded that when it comes to the entire world, we're definitely not the 99%. 

We could live here

but at least we'd have reception

Have a Little Faith

For the last week, Scout has been wearing the Dishtowel of Shame. She's had to wear it to protect the wound from her surgery last Sunday - we got her fixed (as Megan says, "Because she was broken.") It wore her out - in this picture she was literally falling asleep standing up.

But once she emerged from her anesthesia induced fog, we were told we could go about normal business with her. The vet should have told the general public this information, because we have had no shortage of dirty looks and criticism. Some people look at us like we are cruel animal owners to drag her outside in this condition. Others laugh and comment about her funny clothes, as though we chose this outfit for her.

The most surprising though is the number of people who feel they must comment on the surgery itself. When we tell them why she is wearing a dishrag, they inevitably say, "Oh, she's too young to have that done. You should wait until she's grown." When we tell them that she IS full grown, they respond by insisting that she is a Labrador or a Golden Retriever. If we inform them that she is neither and that she is 7 months old, they tell us we should have waited till she is nine months.

What baffles me in these conversations (you may have noticed I am often baffled in this country), is that they seem to have little faith in the veterinarians who performed this surgery. Do they think that the doctors would not have confirmed her age? Or that they are back alley vets just looking to make a buck off of ignorant foreigners? I'm sorely tempted to tell them that we did it ourselves and we just didn't know. Mostly I just wish they would have a little faith in us and our doctors and our collective intelligence regarding the age, breed, and treatment of Scout.

I'm really looking forward to getting the dishtowel off so we can go back to being a little bit less conspicuous.

My Secret

Sometimes people say they don't know how I get as much done as I do. Part of it is just how I'm wired - God made me high energy and high capacity. I'm glad He did because I like that about me. Part of it is that I'm also wired to want to look good. Of that part I'm not such a fan, but I'm learning to let go.

But the biggest part of it is that I don't do half of what it looks like I do and that's the truth. I don't do most of my own grocery shopping. I don't do laundry. I don't dust or sweep or mop my floors. I certainly don't get around to washing my windows or cleaning out my cupboards. And yet my house is in a near constant state of order and I am free to go about my day, all because of a lovely young woman named Xiao Xue (those of you unfamiliar with Mandarin pronunciation, I encourage you not to attempt pronouncing her name. You will be wrong).

This is one of the great blessings of living in a developing country - house help is relatively inexpensive and culturally normal. Women will come and clean, cook, and watch your children, for a few dollars an hour. It doesn't set us apart to have someone helping us - in fact, when our kids were younger and I was outside with them alone, people would ask me often why I was watching my children myself, instead of having a helper do it for me. I don't need someone to watch my kids anymore, but I do need someone to clean because the dust in this city is phenomenal, and someone to grocery shop because somehow everything like that takes twice as long here. Why is that?

Xiao Xue came to me "on loan" from some friends who were out of the country for 6 months. She came every weekday morning for 4 hours. Within two weeks, I was secretly hoping my friends would never come back so I could keep Xiao Xue. Unfortunately, about a month in, her husband was in a terrible car accident and almost died. For the next 5 months she had to wait on him constantly as he endured several surgeries. When you have a family member in the hospital here, you are expected to take care of them yourself, so it was a full time job for her. I squeaked by with someone two afternoons a week who didn't work nearly as quickly as her.

By the time Xiao Xue could work again, my friend was back. To our surprise, we found that Xiao Xue was reluctant to work for her because she lived further away. She wanted to work for us instead! Since then, she comes cheerfully into our house every morning between 9 and 9:30 and stays until 1 or 1:30. She and I will chat occasionally. I'll share funny stories of things that have been happening in the house and we laugh together. She'll comment on how she sees the kids growing and learning. Just now I walked into the kitchen and found all my baking supplies on the counter because she was taking the initiative to clean out that cabinet. I would probably never have done that on my own. I hope she never leaves us because I don't know what I would do without her (well, yes I do. I would either clean a lot and do nothing else or have a really messy house. And I would not blog).

So there have you have it. My secret is out. I'm not anywhere near a super mom. I'm just a mom with a wonderful helper.

Song on the Subway

On a family trip to our kids' Tae Kwon Do test, this young man was playing and singing on the subway. I was surprised to see that many people were dropping bills into his bag. You rarely see people give beggars money (though maybe most people have heard as much as we have about the beggar scams). When he passed by us, I dropped in a few kuai and he shyly said, "Thank you" in English. We enjoyed him.

Our English Speaking Dog

Woman in elevator: So you speak to your dog in English?

Me: Yes

Woman in elevator: And it understands you?

Me: Yes

Woman in elevator: If you speak Chinese, does it understand?

Me: No

Woman in elevator as she's exiting: It understands English, but not Chinese . . . (sounding baffled)

This conversation is second only to the "is she a golden retriever?" one when it comes to strangers and Scout. People seem either amazed and/or jealous that our dog understands English, because they often say, "Ha! Your dog can understand English and I can't!"

Sometimes I feel like part of my purpose here is simply to astound the locals.

Playground Bully

Being a homeschool family and not living in a place where there are playgrounds, we've not had to deal with playground bullies, until last night.

We were at a restaurant with some friends, one which parents love because it does have a play area for kids. While we were chatting with our friends, one of their girls came over and said that there was a boy pushing other kids. Our friend went over and tried to talk to the boy, but he wiggled away.

This happened again a few minutes later. Our friend then found the boy's mom who was watching the events without intervening, and asked her to do something about it. She also tried in vain to talk to the kid.

Then we heard the report that Megan was crying because the boy had pushed and punched her. Keep in mind, this kid looked to be no more than about five (but he was, as we say in the Brenna household, "sturdy"). Sure enough, Megan was trying to hold back tears because the kid had actually punched her in the face!

Ok, that's when my mama bear comes out. Unfortunately, lacking any experience in this kind of thing and having to deal with it both cross-culturally and in my second language, I was ill-equipped to do it well. I found the mother and said, "Your child just hit my child." She looked at me, a little frazzled, and said, "Yes I know. I just criticized him and told him to apologize."

It was obvious that an apology would not be forthcoming, although the mom was very apologetic toward me (she was also, unfortunately, receiving some of the boy's punches). Our friend tried to get the father and grandparents to help the situation, but their response was, "His mother is there." We were leaving anyway, so we just sort of let it drop and walked away.

When I was in bed later reflecting on it, I wish I'd handled it differently. Granted, I didn't get that angry with the mom or the boy outwardly, and I accepted her apology graciously, but inside I was seething. If I'd had a minute alone with that kid, I think I might have punched him myself. I'm disappointed that this is true of my heart. I know there is part of it that was motivated by love and protection of my child, but another part of it was just me wanting to control my world.

As I thought about it more, I felt sorry for the kid. A friend of ours told us, "You get what you tolerate." He was actually speaking of leadership, but I think it applies to parenting. That boy does those things because his parents have let him. There was no consequence for his actions last night other than, "Don't do that." I felt sorry for the mom too, who obviously has been left to fend for herself with this little guy.

So that was our first playground bully. And apparently some heart awareness for me. :)

Keyi ma?

I keep reminding myself that I live in a very cool place to take pictures. Unfortunately, I am hindered by the fact that I am nervous about taking pictures of people in public. I'm always afraid they are going to be annoyed or ask me to stop. Hence, you see me take a lot of pictures of the backs of people.

A few days ago when I was out, I decided I needed to be a little more brave. I peeked into a sheltered "restaurant" to snap this picture:

Just before I took the picture, a man outside (presumably the owner) stopped me and asked what I was doing. I told him I was just taking pictures for fun, then I showed him this afterward. He liked it.

Feeling a little emboldened, I walked up on the pedestrian bridge where they are always selling things. There were two long tables filled with colorful jewelry. I started to set up a shot, but the two female sellers started objecting loudly. I gave them my same explanation and even showed them some of the pictures I'd taken. They told me I couldn't take pictures because it was Buddhist jewelry and went on to say something more (maybe they think it takes away the power?). I asked them if they believe in this, but they said no. I thought it was a little funny that they would defend it anyway, but I respected that and walked away.

So, a few steps in the "keyi ma?" (OK?) direction, but it might be awhile before you see peoples' faces in my photos.

Christmas Comes to China

In the past week, I have seen clerks in a grocery store all wearing Santa hats. I can't walk into a market or department store without seeing a display of crazy bright Christmas decorations (none of them including Jesus). Today in the drugstore they were playing Santa Claus is Coming to Town on the loud speaker.

Is he?

I have to wonder how many Chinese children are expecting Santa to somehow worm his way into their apartment buildings (through the oil sucker maybe?). I'm guessing not many, but more and more there is evidence that this holiday is slowing inching into China.

When we first came, the best place I could find Christmas in China was in IKEA. I would go there to hear Christmas carols and buy whatever wrapping paper they had that year, if it actually seemed like Christmas. I think one year it was purple and black, but I could be remembering that wrong.

Aside from that, there was the flower market, that yearly cleared out space for Christmas decorations and trees. The only tree I ever saw out in public was outside the bank. It was small, and had brightly colored tinsel strands wrapped around it. I don't know that they ever took it down though, so does that count as Christmas?

The salesman at Nike today mentioned that it is Christmas this week, and then "your" New Year's. I just pray that while this holiday becomes more known in this country, people will hear what we're actually celebrating.

Top Lips Enjoy

I bought a lip balm this week. It says "Top Lips Enjoy" so I guess the fact that I enjoy it means my lips are tops. It also bears this colorful description:

Anti-exposes to the sun the element and the special effect including SPF15 protects the lip ingredient, contends with the moral climate, the violent sunlight and the cold wind violation, often maintain the bilabial four seasons health are moving!

I'm particularly impressed that this lip balm will help me fight all that immorality out there.

An encouraging word

My helper just paid me the highest compliment I've had in awhile. She asked me what I studied in university. My degree is hard to explain in English, let alone Chinese, so I explained that I studied "office communication" which I suppose could convey a wide variety of things to her, most of them not what I studied (organizational communication for the inquiring mind - basically anything that makes an organization run well in terms of its people).

She told me she thought I must have studied interior decorating, or what I assume means interior decorating. She said that the things I buy and the way I arrange them in my house is beautiful so I must have studied how to do it.

Why, thank you!